Dear Editor,
There seems to exist a crisis in our education sector and no one in authority seems to care much. The problems affecting the teachers and students of this nation are legion. For many years now, government has not rolled out a comprehensive national education plan. The oil industry has come and the choice jobs are going to foreigners. Our school system has not as yet set out any plans for specific training in this new industry. The teachers strike is showing us the contempt with which we, as a people, hold our teachers. For too long we have sat down and believed
that teachers can perform well on starvation wages. This must stop. We need to recognize the real worth of our teachers and handle their matters as such. The increasing violence meted out to teachers on a daily basis should have seen government taking firm measures to address this situation.
Teachers need medical and other insurances that would ensure that they are protected while on the job. Any proposed plan to hand out monies to parents so that they can acquire private school tuition for their children is not worth any reasonable consideration. This is folly at its highest. We need to pay our teachers well so that they can adequately meet their personal and familial needs. A caring government would not have allowed this strike to be prolonged. It has already taken up one school term. The Ministry of Labour has been most delinquent in handling this matter. The teachers have diligently followed all the steps in the process. We need to go to arbitration and have this matter settled, soonest.
Sincerely,
Cyril Walker
